A perfect blend of classic film noir and graphic novel, SIN CITY 2: A DAME TO KILL FOR is deliciously decadent.\u00a0 The sequel to the 2005 \u201cSin City\u201d by Robert Rodriguez and graphic novelist Frank Miller, the pair reunite nine years later for this action-packed explosion of raw and visceral lust, corruption, vengeance and violence that dazzles, delights, intrigues, and celebrates the noir thrillers of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s on screen and on the pulp page.<\/p>\n
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Once again based in Kadie\u2019s Club Pecos in the heart of Sin City, Rodriguez and Miller play with the \u201cSin City\u201d timeline and weave together multiple vignettes with the connective tissue being killer-for-hire Marv, who finds himself in all number of seductively dangerous situations, while tying everyone and everything together for a cohesive textured story that leaps off the screen (literally and figuratively as the best way to see SIN CITY 2 is in 3D).\u00a0 With chapters consisting of \u201cNancy\u2019s Last Dance\u201d, \u201cJust Another Saturday Night\u201d, the centrally themed \u201cA Dame To Kill For\u201d and new to the SIN CITY world and written just for the film, \u201cThe Long Bad, Night\u201d, albeit a tad convoluted at times with the revolving door of characters and meld of prequel and sequel themes, the intrigue and mystery is thick as thieves in the night.<\/p>\n
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We meet up again with Nancy Callahan who is still deep in mourning for the love of her life, Detective John Hartigan.\u00a0 A gal with a plan, or so she thinks, she\u2019s out to get the man who killed Hartigan – Senator Roark.\u00a0 But will she succumb to self-destructive grief, guilt and drunkenness first?\u00a0 Dwight McCarthy is back battling his own demons and backstory while trying to move forward and move on, distancing himself from the sultry and dangerous femme fatale, Ava Lord.\u00a0 Like Nancy, will Dwight fall victim to his own weakness when it comes to Ava?\u00a0 And then there\u2019s Johnny.\u00a0 With a youthful look and over-compensating cockiness, Johnny never loses; or so he thinks, until he goes toe-to-toe with the all powerful Roark.\u00a0 Dotting the lush black and white landscape are other characters, like Manute, Ava\u2019s bodyguard; a gal named Goldie who catches Johnny\u2019s eye; hooker-come-lately Sally and her john Joey; hard-ass and oh-so-sexy Gail; detectives Mort and Bob, one of whom falls prey to Ava\u2019s charms; and a back-alley doc named Kroenig who uses popsicle sticks as medical tools.<\/p>\n
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Casting is impeccable with many returning actors from \u201cSin City\u201d,\u00a0 including Powers Boothe as Roark.\u00a0 A much expanded role this go-round, Boothe commands the screen.\u00a0 From voice to physical presence, he is a force to be reckoned with on all counts.\u00a0 Jessica Alba returns as Nancy as does Rosario Dawson who is more kick-ass than ever as Gail while showing a previously unseen tenderness and soft spot when it comes to Dwight.\u00a0\u00a0 A side perk: every Dominatrix in town will be looking for Gail\u2019s garb for their own personal wardrobe.\u00a0\u00a0 Although killed off in the first film, as we all know, there\u2019s always a way to bring characters back from the dead and Miller and Rodriguez waste no time in returning Marv, Hartigan and Goldie, again played by Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Jaime King, respectively.\u00a0 Josh Brolin captivates as Dwight while Juno Temple delights as Sally.\u00a0 Not to be overlooked are Christopher Meloni and Jeremy Piven who, together with Ray Liotta\u2019s strong comic notes as Sally\u2019s wimp of a john, add strong notes of dark humor as bumbling gumshoes Mort and Bob.<\/p>\n
But the real \u201cstars\u201d here are Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eva Green as Johnny and Ava.\u00a0 A completely new character to the SIN CITY world is Gordon-Levitt\u2019s Johnny.\u00a0 Working together with Rodriguez and Miller to create the character and the storyline, the trio collaborated to magnificent result.\u00a0 And talk about a perfect performance!\u00a0 Gordon-Levitt was made for film noir.\u00a0 He has the look, the persona, the cool, slickness.\u00a0 He could step into any noir film from Gordon Wills or Richard Wallis and be welcomed with open arms by TCM fans everywhere.\u00a0 Likewise, Eva Green.\u00a0 The classic noir femme fatale, Green is silken with a languid seductiveness that has you wondering where does the dream end and nightmare begin with Ava Lord.\u00a0 The subject of some of the film\u2019s true \u201cmoney shots\u201d, the play of extreme light and dark contrast is used to its best suggestive advantage with the flawless Green.\u00a0 And when it comes to dialogue delivery, Green oozes sex with every syllable.<\/p>\n
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Ultra-violent and action-filled, Rodriguez and Miller go all out this go-round pushing the envelope far beyond what we saw in \u201cSin City\u201d.\u00a0 Capturing the defining essence of hallmark noir – tragic romance, betrayal, darkness, guilt and a femme fatale to die and kill for – SIN CITY 2 is the perfect economy of expression with graphic impact.\u00a0 Rodriguez and Miller truly embrace the noir ideal of a black slate on which we write our ills and then erase them clean, creating a fully self-contained hyper-stylized reflection of cultural predilections.<\/p>\n
To create the visual look and overall tonal bandwidth, Rodriguez \u201cwent ahead and pushed it further towards the book, especially with the more abstract drawings and [Miller\u2019s] graphic approach to it.\u00a0 It\u2019s just eye-popping. . .We did it in 3D because I just thought that would lend so much better to a graphic novel because of the absence of information.\u201d\u00a0 With pops of the distinctive Max Factor signature 1940’s red against the stark intense contrast of saturated black blacks and white, more often than not Rodriguez opts for a liquified almost neon white for blood-letting, grappling with sexual metaphor in the process.<\/p>\n
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Key to the look and feel of SIN CITY 2: A DAME TO KILL FOR, and quite honestly, the juiciest aspect of the film as a whole, is the cinematography and particularly, the lighting which is dynamic and dramatic, celebrating metaphor in almost every shot.\u00a0 According to Rodriguez, who does his own cinematography and does so with efficiency thanks to a green screen set, \u201cThe lighting takes time.\u00a0 When we\u2019re on the set, fortunately, we can move pretty quickly because I\u2019m lighting just the actors. . . You light them with the set in mind, which is where the graphic novels are so great.\u00a0 You already know where your key is going to be and where there might be a back light.\u00a0 And I know how to manipulate the images quite a bit.\u00a0 If I shoot a certain way, I can add a lot of shadows later. . .[I]t gives you a lot of freedom later, to play with all the lighting and get it right.\u201d\u00a0 The visual and emotional result is both salacious and stunning.<\/p>\n
SIN CITY 2: A DAME TO KILL FOR is a killer.<\/p>\n
Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller<\/p>\n
Written by Frank Miller based on graphic novels by Frank Miller<\/p>\n
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green, Powers Boothe, Rosario Dawson, Ray Liotta, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Dennis Haysbert, Stacy Keach, Juno Temple, Christopher Lloyd, Jaime King<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By: debbie lynn elias A perfect blend of classic film noir and graphic novel, SIN CITY 2: A DAME TO KILL FOR is deliciously decadent.\u00a0 The sequel to the 2005 \u201cSin City\u201d by Robert Rodriguez and graphic novelist Frank Miller, the pair reunite nine years later for this action-packed explosion of raw and visceral lust, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,9],"tags":[174,173],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-reviews","tag-noir-graphic-novel","tag-sin-city-2-a-dame-to-kill-for"],"yoast_head":"\n